Woods back in lead, challengers falling away

CHASKA, Minn. — Tiger Woods has regained the lead at the PGA Championship, and his challengers are beginning to fall away.

Woods is at 7 under, one stroke ahead of playing partner Y.E. Yang. Defending champion and three-time major winner Padraig Harrington fell out of contention with a disastrous eighth hole, going in the water not once, but twice on the par-3.

U.S. Open champion Lucas Glover, who was within a stroke of Woods at one point, fell back to 3 under after three bogeys on the last four holes of his front nine.

That leaves Yang to derail Woods’ attempt to win his first major title of the season, and 15th overall.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.

CHASKA, Minn. (AP) — Now it gets interesting.

Tiger Woods’ two-stroke lead at the PGA Championship was gone by the time he left the fourth green Sunday, and Y.E. Yang sure doesn’t look like a guy who’s going to wilt in the glare of playing with the world’s No. 1.

Yang, who beat Woods three years ago by two shots to win the HSBC Champions in Shanghai but is in contention for his first major, birdied the par-5 No. 3 after making the approach shot that Woods had wanted.

Woods then missed a 4-footer for par on the par-3 No. 4 to drop into a tie. He also missed makable birdie putts on his first and second holes.

And as if to prove he’s intent on going toe-to-toe with Woods, Yang drove to the exact spot Woods did on No. 5.

The two are at 7 under, with defending champion Padraig Harrington a stroke behind. U.S. Open winner Lucas Glover was making a charge with two birdies on his first five holes, only to give a stroke back when he missed a six-footer. He’s at 5 under.

Still, history seems to be on Woods’ side.

He’s a daunting 36-1 when he has the lead going into the final round of a tournament, including 14-0 at the majors. Only once has he lost a tournament when leading by two shots or more — and that was nine years ago.

But he’ll have to start making some putts if that run of excellence is to continue.

After running birdie putts long on the first and second holes, Woods wasn’t happy with his approach shot from 168 yards on No. 3.

“Bite! Bite! Bite!” he yelled.

But the ball landed solidly on the top part of the green and didn’t budge, leaving Woods with a long birdie putt. Yang, from only about 100 yards, put his shot in the middle of the green and watched it release and roll back to 5 feet, giving him an easy birdie.

With only a 4-footer on the next hole, par seemed like a given for Woods. But he had too much speed on the ball and it rolled past the cup.

Heavy overnight rains have softened Hazeltine National’s greens, meaning low scores are possible. But the wind was gusting again, and rain is a possibility throughout the afternoon — Woods briefly put on a rain jacket when sprinkles fell while he was on the putting green before teeing off.